Russia retaliates on West's sanctions over Ukraine

Associated Press

Published 5:40 pm, Thursday, August 7, 2014

Photo: Olga Maltseva, AFP/Getty Images

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A Russian woman walks past refrigerated foodstuffs at a supermarket in Saint Petersburg on August 7, 2014. Russia retaliated against tough new Western sanctions, banning most food imports from the United States and the European Union and threatening to block flights over its airspace. The tit-for-tat moves further heighten tensions between Russia and the West over the conflict in Ukraine, where heavy shelling was reported in the rebel-held eastern city of Donetsk. AFP PHOTO / OLGA MALTSEVAOLGA MALTSEVA/AFP/Getty Images less

A Russian woman walks past refrigerated foodstuffs at a supermarket in Saint Petersburg on August 7, 2014. Russia retaliated against tough new Western sanctions, banning most food imports from the United States ... more

Photo: Olga Maltseva, AFP/Getty Images

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FILE - In this June 24, 2013 file photo, Lester Reimer harvests wheat on his farm near Lebo, Kan. Russia is a competitor of Kansas in global wheat markets. Russia's ban on U.S. food imports will hurt Russia more than will hurt Kansas farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses, J.J. Jones, the state's trade director said Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014.(AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File) less

FILE - In this June 24, 2013 file photo, Lester Reimer harvests wheat on his farm near Lebo, Kan. Russia is a competitor of Kansas in global wheat markets. Russia's ban on U.S. food imports will hurt Russia ... more

Photo: Orlin Wagner, Associated Press

Russia retaliates on West's sanctions over Ukraine

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Moscow --

Russia retaliated Thursday for sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine by banning most food imports from the West, dealing a blow to Europe that also takes aim at hurting farmers in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

In choosing to make an economic move, President Vladimir Putin signaled he isn't ready at this point to send troops into Ukraine. He also showed he's willing to inflict significant pain on his own people to make a point.

The U.S. and the European Union have accused Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March, of supplying arms and expertise to a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine, and have responded by slapping sanctions on Russian individuals and companies. Tensions rose further last month when a Malaysian jetliner was shot down over rebel-held territory, killing all 298 people aboard, and the West accused Russia of most likely providing the militants with the missiles that may have been used to bring the plane down.

Moscow denies supporting the rebels and accuses the West of blocking attempts at a political settlement by encouraging Kiev to use its military to crush the insurgency.

The ban, announced by a somber Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at a televised Cabinet meeting, covers all imports of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, milk and milk products from the U.S. and Canada; all 28 EU countries, plus Norway; and Australia. It will last for one year.

"Until the last moment, we hoped that our foreign colleagues would understand that sanctions lead to a deadlock and no one needs them," Medvedev said. "But they didn't, and the situation now requires us to take retaliatory measures."

That retaliation, however, could hurt Russia as much as the West. With the inclusion of Ukraine, most of whose food products also have been banned, Russia has now cut off 55 percent of its agricultural imports, including about 95 percent of its imported milk, cheese and yogurt.

Washington dismissed Moscow's ban as trivial to the U.S. but destructive to Russia's own population.

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